Updates, advisories and surprises

(4:14 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Healthways Inc.
HWAY, +0.99%
after Thursday's closing bell reported fiscal third-quarter net earnings of $10.8 million, or 29 cents a share, up 15.6% from $9.34 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The Nashville, Tenn.-based provider of health and care support programs and services said revenue in the three months ended May 31 rose 57% to $167.9 million from $106.8 million in the comparable period last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting, on average, a per-share profit of 29 cents on revenue of $170 million. Healthways cut it fiscal 2007 earnings forecast to a range of $1.21 to $1.22 a share from its previous view of $1.44 to $1.61 share, and cut its revenue outlook to a range of $618 million to $630 million from its earlier forecast of $640 million to $659 million. The company also said it has approved a $100 million share buyback program.

Bassett Furniture swings to a second-quarter loss

(11:08 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bassett Furniture Industries Inc.
BSET, +0.99%
said Thursday it swung to a second-quarter net loss of $2.42 million, or 20 cents a share, from a year-ago net profit of $2.83 million, or 24 cents a share. The Bassett, Va.-based furniture maker said revenue in the 13 weeks ended May 26 fell to $75.4 million from $87.7 million in the comparable period last year. The company expects to open three to four new stores in the second half of the year. Bassett shares fell 2.5% to $13.33 in Thursday morning trade.

Freddie Mac: 30-yr mortgage average falls to 6.63%

(10:19 AM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage average fell in the week ending Thursday, to 6.63% from 6.67%, according to Freddie Mac
FRE, +2.77%
The mortgage agency said its weekly survey showed the 15-year loan also fell, to 6.30% from 6.34%. The 1-year Treasury-indexed adjustable rate rose to 5.71% from 5.65%, while the 5-year hybrid ARM averaged 6.29%, down from 6.3%. "Long-term mortgage rates continued to move lower for a third consecutive week, in part reflecting a moderation in core inflation," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac's chief economist, in a statement. "In the statement accompanying their decision to leave the target federal funds rate unchanged, the Fed noted that core inflation had declined recently, though a 'sustained' moderation is still to be seen, and signaled that inflation risk continues to figure prominently in their policy decisions."

(6:59 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Apparel maker Tefron Ltd.
TFR
said second-quarter revenue is likely to fall 19% to $40.5 million, on lower than anticipated active-wear and intimate apparel sales. Tefron expects that third quarter revenues will further decline due to a delay in active-wear orders, as well as the seasonal reduction in sales of its swimwear product line. Tefron expects its second and third quarter profitability to be impacted by the lower revenue and manufacturing levels expected during these quarters. It adds the weakness in the U.S. dollar vs. the Israeli shekel and the price reductions in older collections of Tefron's intimate apparel product line also will hurt profit, resulting in second- and third-quarter profit significantly below last year's levels. Tefron currently expects revenues to improve in the fourth quarter, mainly due to positive indications received from Nike
NKE, -1.06%
for increased 'next generation' product orders in the fourth quarter, backed up by raw material commitments, and due to an expected growth in sales of our swimwear product line.

Toyota Motor's China sales up 77% in first half of 2007

(4:17 AM ET) HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Toyota Motor Corp.(JP:7203)saw its China sales surge 77% in the first six months of 2007 from the year-ago period, according to a Reuters report Thursday, which cited statements by an unnamed company official. Unit sales for the period totaled 212,000 the report said.

Game Group sales up 74%, margin to decline

(2:38 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- PC and video game retailer Game Group(UK:GMG)said Thursday that it is performing in line with its expectations for the first half of the year, with total sales up 74.1% following the acquisition of Gamestation. Like-for-like sales, excluding Gamestation, rose 45.6%. Excluding all sales related to Sony's Playstation 3, which launched on March 23, like-for-like sales rose 24.6%, it added. The group said consumer demand remains strong for all formats, however the U.K. trading environment has remained very competitive. As expected, the higher volume of hardware sales, which have a lower margin, will reduce the group's gross margin, but first-half pretax profit should be between 1 million pounds ($2 million) and 3 million pounds, it added.

Interserve remains confident on outlook

(2:26 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Construction and facilities maintenance group Interserve(UK:IRV)said Thursday that it continued to trade strongly in generally buoyant markets during the first half of 2007. The group said a series of contract wins, including to build new schools and to construct a parking stand for aircraft at RAF Brize Norton, mean it continues to be confident about the outlook for the year.

Carillion says on track to materially enhance earnings

(2:22 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Carillion(UK:CLLN), the U.K. support services and construction company, said it's making progress toward its previously announced objective of delivering materially enhanced earnings in 2007. It's successfully integrated the Carillion and Mowlem businesses earlier than expected, and overall trading in its markets remain positive. It still sees 26 million pounds a year in cost savings by the year end. The value of its order book is expected to remain at its record level of around 16 billion pounds.

Ladbrokes says 'high rollers' to help it meet forecasts

(2:19 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. bookie Ladbrokes(UK:LAD)said it's experienced significantly increased level of "high rollers" telephone betting activity, leading to an operating profit from phone betting in the six months to June 30 that's 45 million pounds higher than last year. The company overall is trading in line with its own expectations despite "challenging" conditions in the U.K. retail over-the-counter business.

Redrow expects in-line FY after building 2% more homes

(2:17 AM ET) LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. home builder Redrow(UK:RDW)said performance in the year to June will be line with company expectations after completing 2% more homes at an average selling price of 160,000 pounds. "The new homes market remained stable but competitive during the year albeit with stronger conditions experienced in the South East of England and Scotland," the company said. Notwithstanding the recent interest rate rises, the company said its sales rates in the last quarter remained satisfactory. It also named Alan Bowkett, 56, as non-executive chairman. The chairman of Seton House succeeds Jim Martin, interim chairman.

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